


Meeting the Dukes

by Aleciko



Series: The Other Jones [2]
Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 13:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2509172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleciko/pseuds/Aleciko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day two of Lucy's stay at Messina!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lucy

Meeting Pedro had been fun. I loved watching Balthy squirm, worried I was going to give his crush away.  
Reuniting with mum had been decidedly less fun... It's not like she yelled at me.. Or really spoke to me at all. Or looked at me. Or acknowledged my existence.  
I was invisible.  
But if that's how my mum wanted it to be, that's how it would be. I wasn't planning on spending much time in the house anyway. There was too much to do! And too many people to meet.  
"Lucy?" Balthy said as he stuck his head through the door this morning.  
"Ready to go when you are." I beamed at him. I was finally meeting the Dukes! He smiled at me softly and held out his hand for me to take. We made our way down to the living room and Balthy was reaching for the front door when my mum came out of the kitchen.  
"Where are you going Balthazar?" Could she ignore me any more obviously?  
"I'm taking Lucy to meet the Dukes." Mum glanced over at me and went back into the kitchen. I looked down at the floor, my happy mood gone.

The car ride was silent... Until _Happy_ came on that is.  
"I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space!" Balthy started singing along... Terribly I might add. He looked over at me and did his best eyebrow wiggle when I refused to give in and sing along. I cracked.  
"Because I'm HAPPY! Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof!"  
By the time we got to the Duke's we had ultimately murdered four pop songs. And it was brilliant. There was nothing I loved more than spending time with my brother... Except spending time with my brother singing.  
We hopped up the stairs to the front door and Balth knocked. We could hear footsteps on the other side and then.... Pedro opened the door..  
"Hey guys!" He greeted us happily.  
"Uh.. hi.. Um. Hey Pedro." Balthy stumbled. He was so adorably in love with Pedro I couldn't help but poke him in the ribs. Balthy had never really _told_ me that he had a crush on Pedro.. But I had guessed it about a year ago.  
"Sup Bath. Hey Lucy!" He smiled at me, and when I gave him a questioning look back he seamed to realize that we had no idea why he was here. "Oh! Um, yeah. The whole gang is kinda here. Claudio and I are going over soccer stuff with Leo, Ben is hanging out with Bea and John just kinda tagged along. Which is actually kinda nice."  
"Great!" I said, totally pumped to meet everyone. Both my brother and Pedro smiled at me, amused.

Once we were in the living room, Pedro left to gather the others. And I gave Balthy a pointed eyebrow wiggle. Which made him blush of coarse.  
"Would you stop that?" He said, poking my leg. I laughed and brushed him off.  
"Oh My God! She exists!" I heard Beatrice exclaim from behind us. I turned to see Beatrice and Hero racing towards me with Ben, Pedro, Leo and Claudio ambling along behind them.  
"I do!" I said, jumping up from the couch and hugging the two Dukes.  
"Nice to finally meet you." Claudio said, holding out his hand for me to shake.  
"You too," I smiled and shook his hand.  
"Hey, I'm Ben."  
"I know." I said, laughing.  
"Welcome back to Auckland." Leo said, shaking my hand. "Are you staying for dinner?" I turned to Balth, with pleading eyes.  
"If it's alright with you Leo." He said, caving.

"How are you Lucy?" Pedro asked after we were all seated in the living room, hanging out while Leo and Hero made dinner in the kitchen.  
"I am well Pedro Donaldson." I smiled. He gave me a weird look, and then glanced over at Balth, who avoided eye contact. Poor Balthy. "I have a thing with nicknames that are longer than names... It's weird, I know." I laughed, trying to explain.  
"No problem." He said, seeming more concerned with Balthy's weird reaction than my nicknames.  
We started watching some foreign movie for about an hour while the Sunday roast was cooking.  
"Uh.. Dinner is ready." John came down to tell us.  
"If it isn't the other Donaldson!" I said, standing with everyone else and walking to the dinning table.

Dinner was amazing. Leo and Hero were truly talented chefs. Conversation mainly revolved around getting to know me. While I didn't need to be the center of attention I could handle it much better than Balthy did. I liked meeting all of the people that he loved so dearly. Near the end of dinner the attention shifted off of me as I became just another part of this well oiled machine. Ben and Bea were enjoying each others playful banter, Claudio, Leo and Pedro were discussing soccer, John was silently eating and Hero, Balthy and I were talking about what's changed in the area since I was last here. All in all it was great to be so included in this extended family. We almost got through the whole day without an incident.

Almost.


	2. Pedro

I had been hanging out at home with **_nothing much to do_** (I was hanging out with Beatrice too much) when John came through.

"I'm bored." He said, waiting in the doorway.  
"So?" I replied, in truth I was bored too.  
"Let us go to the Duke's."  
"Why?"  
"Balth and Lucy are going there this afternoon." He stated. I was surprised that he remembered that. I had mentioned it briefly over dinner when telling our parents about Lucy. "It might be fun. Got to be better than sitting around here." He had a point.

So we went to the Duke's. I invited Claud over and we went out in the backyard to practice soccer with Leo. John joined us and I got to teach him a few things, but I don't think he was going to be the next Donaldson to captain of the soccer team, it was still fun though. Ben came about an hour into practice and then swiftly went upstairs, I can only guess that he was cuddling in a bath with Bea.

At around 5 in the afternoon there was a knock at the door. The guys and I had been hanging in the kitchen, ordering Leo about making steaks for dinner. I offered to get the door, knowing it would be the Jones. As I walked through the house I thought about how surprised Balthy was going to be when I opened the door. The thought of his face all shocked made me smile. I paused before I opened the door. Why was I so excited to see Balthazar? Probably just cause he hadn't been talking to me throughout the Hero issue and I was glad to have my best friend back... Right? Before I could continue my train of thought, I remembered that there were people on the other side of the door waiting to get inside.

"Hey guys!" I exclaimed, surprising the siblings.  
"Uh.. hi.. Um. Hey Pedro." Balthy stumbled, clearly confused.  
After a quick greeting we eventually made our way into the living room, where I left them to collect the guys and the Dukes. Once everyone had met Lucy, Leo came up to her and asked her to stay for dinner. She turned back to Balthy, who clearly had the authority over the situation. He caved to her little-sister charm. I couldn't help but admire his ability to adore his sister so completely. But whenever I tried to catch his eye or talk to him, he stared at the floor. I was getting worried about him..

During dinner, although I was sitting next to him, every time I tried to join him in a group discussion he would avoid eye contact and eventually slip out of the conversation and talk to Lucy. As much as I liked Lucy, and I did, I had to admit that I was just a little jealous of the amount of attention Balthy was showering her with. That's a perfectly normal thing for friends to feel, right? Yeah. Of Course it is...

Speaking of weird siblings, John had been mysteriously quiet the whole time that the Jones' had been here and I was worried that he was up to something. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, I was just paranoid since last time.

_Hey Bro,_ _You alright? You seem quiet._  
  
I sent him a text and watched him across the table as he read it. He looked up at me, his normally dark expression softening as he saw the concern on my face. I raised my eyebrows at him in a questioning look. He looked back down and I watched him type his response.

_I'm fine._

And then:

_Thanks for wondering._

He didn't look back at me after he slipped his phone back into his pocket but he did make an effort to include himself in the conversation from time to time.

Everything had been going well, Lucy seemed happy, Bea and Ben were being all coupley and the rest of us had been chatting away. Except for Balthazar. It seemed like the longer we sat at the table, the more tense he became. A small part of me wanted to put my hand on his back and get him to calm down. But he had been ignoring me all night, and I figured it would do more harm than good. Either way it didn't surprise me that when a car alarm started going off outside, he jumped a meter in the air.

What _did_ surprise me however, was his reaction after jumping. He grabbed Lucy by the arm and lead her away from the table. Muttering goodbyes, thank yous and "it's getting late"s as he took his sister out the door. Everyone sat in silence after they had gone, as the car kept screeching outside. No one really knew what had happened so we all watched each other, waiting for some explanation to present itself. One thing was clear to me though.

Something was up with Balthazar.

And I didn't like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's a little short. I wanted to get something out tonight before I went to bed.. Again, this is my first time writing a fanfic so I really hope that you like it. It means a lot that anyone is bothering to read this so thanks :)  
> Also, I would really appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, about things that you like or things that I could improve on or change. I'm still getting used to fanfics and stuff so any comments would be seriously appreciated!


	3. John

After thinking about _the other Jones_ for most of the day, I realized I needed more observation to make a definite decision. Thankfully Pedro was just as bored as I was and seemed more than happy to go over the the Duke's.

After attempting to play soccer with my brother and his friends, which I had realized was not going to be a regular hobby of mine, I settled down on the back patio to think about how I was going to approach the situation. I knew my brother and his friends, they were all very social and talkative. Meaning I didn't have to be social  _or_ talkative to get information about Lucy. But they were also far more polite than I was, and were unlikely to ask the questions I really wanted answered. Talking to her myself was out of the question. I was not a talking person. I was not really a people person either.. Some days I questioned whether I qualified as a proper person.. But that was not a focus point right now. The point was Lucy.. I briefly lost my train of thought when there was a knock at the door, presumably the Jones in question had arrived.

I followed my brother from the front door, where he paused for a moment, for reasons lost on me. Then to the living room where I watched their fond exchange, which I marked down in my own mind. She clearly was close with her brother. But I had already known that.. I needed more. Finally my brother summoned the rest of the guests to the living room, which is where my real interest lay.

Unfortunately, the living room discussion consisted mostly of the same questions Pedro had asked Lucy yesterday, and then relayed on to our parents and myself. No new information. As the boring repeated conversations went on, I found myself wandering into the kitchen where Leo and Hero were diligently preparing food for the banquet of people that had invaded their home.

"Oh. Hey John." Leo said, looking up.  
"Hi." I hated small talk with a passion.  
"Nice job with the ball today. You need a bit of practice though," He chuckled, checking on one of the steaks in the oven, "but then again, so did your brother."  
"What?" This was new. My brother was a natural at everything.. Wasn't he?  
"Oh yeah! Pedro was all over the place when he started. Hated it though. Being worse than everyone. So he would come by every day after school for extra practice with me. And now he's our top player." He laughed again. "Didn't you know that?"  
"No." I said, thinking this new information through. It seamed my brother wasn't as perfect as I thought.  
"Well... The food's ready, if you want to get everyone through?"

I went back through to the living room, where things seemed exactly as before, only there was a foreign movie playing..  
"Uh.. Dinner is ready." I said, interrupting the movie. Lucy was the first to stand, enthusiastic as ever.  
"If it isn't the other Donaldson!" She exclaimed, as she and the rest of the guests walked past me and into the dining room. I contained my resentment, but only barely. Pedro was the last out of the living room and slapped a hand on my shoulder, leading me to where Hero was serving food onto plates.

For most of dinner, I stayed quiet. I didn't participate in many of the conversations but I was acutely aware of every word that Lucy said. Unfortunately, there was still no information that I found useful or interesting. However I did notice that Balthazar had been acting weirdly around my brother. Pedro seamed to notice as well, so I didn't worry about it. Pedro cared for his best friend and so it wasn't something I should get involved in. All of a sudden my phone vibrated in my pocket

__Hey Bro,_ _You alright? You seem quiet._ _

It was from Pedro. I glanced up at him and he looked at me questioningly. I was amazed that he had noticed, he seemed so focused on his conversations and on Balthazar. It reminded me of my surprise at what Leo had told me earlier that night. The whole situation made me reconsider the fact that although I felt my brother hardly knew me, maybe I hardly knew him as well.

_I'm fine._

I replied. But that felt harsh, and wrong. I was fine, but I wanted him to know that I appreciated that he cared.

_Thanks for wondering._

Dinner continued as before. However, to settle my brother, I made an effort to talk with Leo and occasionally Ben. I still kept my awareness on the Jones' however and I noticed Pedro glancing nervously at Balthazar a few times. That was when I realized that he was incredibly tense, as though something terrible was about to happen. I had been so focused on his sister I hadn't noticed this somewhat subtle change.

And then the car alarm went off.

The first thing I noticed was Balthazar's jump from his seat. Which caused a round of surprised laughs. However, while everyone was paying attention to Balthazar, they didn't notice Lucy. Or the fact that she was having a panic attack. Balthazar moved quickly, as though he had been in this situation before, as though he was prepared for it. He swiftly took her by the arm and lead her out of the room and out of the house. Everyone sat in silence at the strange behavior. But I was the only one who saw Lucy. I was the only one who saw the absolute panic in her eyes. The only one who saw the hyperventilation.

I finally had a lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks so much for reading this. It means a lot to me :)  
> I'm really enjoying writing this and I'm trying to post a chapter every day.. That's the plan anyway.  
> Anyway feedback is always really appreciated, positive or negative, so leave a comment if there's something you like or don't like :)  
> Thanks


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